4/14/17

In light of the fact that Creed will soon raise prices again on their entire fragrance line, now might be the time to consider getting into other things. If some of those other things include "clones," so be it. When it comes to Creed clones, choices abound. There are ten times more Creed clones than Creed fragrances, with every recent release getting at least a dozen copycat iterations at various price points. Which brings me to Al Rehab.

A faithful reader of this blog has recommended on several occasions that I try Crown's take on Aventus, named "Avenue." I approached Avenue with an open mind, expecting a typical Al Rehab-style execution of a Creed. Which is to say, I expected it would approximate Aventus pretty well, but as with Silver to SMW, figured it would smell much simpler. In truth, Avenue does resemble Aventus, but when I break it down in detail I find it is very much its own fragrance, with its own unique characteristics.

I consider Aventus a conceptual perfume. The concept is "success," and Creed's idea of "success" is to smell literally like dollar bills. After an hour on my skin, that's what Aventus smells like. Sure, I get the pineapple on top, along with red apple, citrus, birch, rose, oakmoss, and vanilla. Eventually the rubbery rose, the dry birch, and the bitter moss coalesce into a "clean smoke" kind of accord that flattens over time, until it smells like Federal Reserve ink. American money has a very distinct dirty-clean aroma, and Aventus captures it perfectly.

Avenue more or less achieves the same effect after a few hours on skin, so in this regard it is quite similar to Aventus, although Avenue's smokiness is from a dry patchouli note instead of moss and birch. That said, I think Avenue is much "fruitier" and far more citrus oriented than Aventus ever was, in any of its batches. The fruits in question are bergamot and lemon.

Avenue is bursting at the seams with crisp, vibrant bergamot, and conveys this note with such clarity and surprising quality that I'm shocked I haven't seen more accolades for Avenue from citrus fans. If you enjoy rich hesperidic scents, this scent should wow you.

Interestingly, Avenue has no pineapple or apple notes. So if you blind buy it hoping for a cheaper, more focused take on Aventus-styled pineapple, you'll be disappointed. The absence of pineapple definitely puts some distance between Avenue and Creed, to the point where I wonder if they were even trying to clone Aventus at all. But I prefer bergamot and lemon to pineapple, so this doesn't bother me.

When you think of Aventus, you automatically think of pineapple. When I think of Avenue, I can't help but think of bergamot. I believe there's even a subtler hint of Sicilian lemon blended into it, which makes the citrus effect that much more pronounced. At its price point I can safely say that anyone who wants a great citrus scent for pennies on the dollar would be remiss to not try Avenue. This is citrus heaven. I imagine enjoying this immensely on a sunny summer afternoon at a beach in Italy.

Also notable are quiet notes of silver frankincense, pine, and patchouli. The citrus explosion on top of Avenue lasts about twenty or thirty minutes, before segueing gradually into a very light accord of frankincense and pine. For a few seconds this early drydown stage resembles Pine Sol cleaning detergent, but fortunately the patchouli and frankincense rebalance things, and any chemical nastiness is short-lived. But look, that's the budget making itself known. What do you expect, right?

After an hour the patchouli, still heavily tinged with citrus, begins to "smoke up" the scent a bit, and the dollar bills idea appears. Here is where Avenue really resembles Aventus. It doesn't have the dry rose or the lucid birch notes of the Creed, but patchouli and incense can do interesting things, and here they shine.

Would I strongly recommend Avenue to someone seeking a faithful Aventus clone? Not really. I would mention it, however. I would say that Aventus is a concept that can be stretched and pulled into a few different directions, and one direction is to loosely take the concept of any fruit and mate it to something earthy and a bit "smoky." Avenue takes different fruits, distinctly tart citrus fruits, and tows them into that same "smoky" Aventus-like direction, without coming across as an obvious dupe.

I certainly would hasten to point out that Avenue is one of the best citrus bargains out there. Unlike other Crown oils I've tried, the fruits in Avenue actually smell like genuine citrus oils, and emit a feeling of depth and quality rarely found in fragrances that cost ten times as much, let alone Crowns' asking price of a few cents per milliliter.

This is a simple composition that achieves a sophisticated effect for the price of a bergamot at the supermarket. Buy it, wear it, and enjoy it. You have absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain with Avenue. It's hands down the best Al Rehab I've tried.

Just don't tell people you're wearing Aventus. There's no point - Avenue smells great on its own merits, and deserves full credit for it.

6 comments:

I was just sitting here with some gawdawful pina colada smelling conditioner on my hair wondering what other pineapple 'fumes have garnered as much popularity as Aventus. The first thing that popped into my head was the LOUD pineapple-like note in Giorgio & the numerous Escadas that all smell like tropical cocktails. For men it's Mont Blanc Legend & Legend Intense, and Azzaro Chrome. I don't own any Creeds, nor do I have any desire to. I had a bottle of Spring Flower in the 90's that I traded away. Virgin Island water is nice for the entire 45 minutes it lasts. Meh, I collect & wear florals, creed doesn't really do good florals. Fleurissimo has to be one of the worst things I have ever smelled.

Really happy to read such an in depth and precise review and perhaps even happier that I didn't fall flat on my face by recommending something wretched.

I'm delighted that Avenue is loosely based rather than being an obvious dupe of Aventus. What a surprise to read that, what I interpret as this luxurious "smell of success" quite literally translates to the scent of actual dollar bills.

In my mind, patchouli and incense conjure this idea of ceremonies and consecrations taking place in ancient temples, the smoke of cleansing rituals (Zino gives me that feeling too). And why shouldn't it? Isn't the body after-all a temple? Therefor I don't smelling like one too (in "aurea mediocritas" of course).

Dare I ask, does Avenue actually remind you of other perhaps older scents? That have a comparable smokiness?

This one surprised me when I first got it. It wasn't the dupe I was expecting it to be, since there are differences. At the same time, it still says "Aventus." I was thinking of maybe trying another clone, since Aventus is a great all purpose scent (summer or winter, statement or innocuous, casual or formal), but just not worth its cost, nor the hype it gets. Then figured there's no point. Avenue smells awesome, and most definitely outperforms any other clone (or original), since this is quite possibly the most persistent fragrance I have ever worn (I'm talking about like 60 hour longevity, without exaggeration, and I shower twice a day).

It's surprising how good it is given its price. And yeah, shelling out hundreds of clams for Aventus never made any sense. Creed started losing me back when they were in their "rice notes smell good" phase, and when they issued the Royals at $700 a pop, most of which were mediocre. This kind of alternative is a massive fuck you to Creed - hey, I can now smell 95% like Aventus for bus fare.